In this issue

We are very excited to reintroduce a printed, hard copy College Calendar next year!

In 2023, Genesis Christian College will be printing and distributing a hard copy calendar to the families of our 1,600 students. The calendar will feature key school dates as well as room for families to record their own personal reminders. The calendar will be free for Genesis families.

Sponsor our calendar:

Over the years, we have had many business owners in our community enquire about how to position their business to our families. Therefore, we have created a new opportunity for our families who run their own business or service to exclusively sponsor one calendar month (see below)

The calendar will be distributed to the families of our 1,600 students. We anticipate the calendar will be displayed in a prominent position in the family home and will be regularly referred to throughout the year.

By sponsoring a month in the Genesis Calendar will provide you with an opportunity to have your brand, product offering and contact information on display and viewed repeatedly throughout the month.

The Genesis Christian College community is a strong one and families are often seeking recommendations for local businesses that are part of the Genesis community to support. By sponsoring a month, your brand will be aligned with the Genesis community, helping you to form new connections and build brand trust.

Your investment:

• The cost to sponsor a month in the Genesis Calendar is $275 inc GST.
• You will receive a (insert size) ad on one calendar month.
• Total space for the sponsor’s tile is 100mm x 25mm which could be a combination of a logo and some details
• With only one brand appearing per page, you will have exclusivity on for your respective calendar month.

Example Sponsorship Designs (for illustrative purposes only):

Contact Us:

If you would like to discuss this opportunity further, please email Taryn Thomas – marketing@genesis.qld.edu.au

We thank you for your support!

We are excited to host two Alumni Reunions in October for our classes of 2002 and 2012! Please refer to the relevant invite below.

For more information, please visit our Facebook page and join our Alumni Group!

Are you details up to date or have you got exciting news to share? Please fill in our form!

College infrastructure and campus development is a key emphasis of our College Strategic Plan, which released to our Genesis community earlier this year.

The focus of this exciting work is to ensure that the College continues to improve learning environments and student facilities. At Genesis, we’re well known for our high quality facilities and infrastructure and we seek to build upon this reputation.

The Process

Through a process of consultation, planning and future thinking the College has completed a new Master Plan which provides clarity on campus development for the next 10 years… and beyond! Together with our College Architect, an extensive review process looked at our current and future infrastructure and campus needs to ensure that our facilities optimally serve the College and students in the years ahead.

Initially, the development focus of our Master Plan will look towards older sections of the College and specific facilities that are currently operating in less-than-ideal spaces and locations.

The First Stages

Secondary Classrooms / Undercover Courts / Agricultural Farm

We’re pleased to report that we are currently in the planning and approval stage to develop additional classrooms at the end of the Genesis Sports and Aquatics Fitness Centre. This will include a dedicated room for Agricultural Science, replacing the current demountable on the Agricultural Farm. This building will also include a classroom for Physical Education that opens out to the oval. This development will include two additional sports courts to cater for the growing demands on our current sports courts and sporting facilities. These courts will sit alongside our existing indoor courts.

Prep & Year 1 Classrooms & Student Services Building

Two additional projects currently in the planning phase include new Prep and Year 1 classrooms specifically designed to cater for the needs of our youngest Primary children and incorporating larger, more agile, and flexible learning spaces along with a uniquely designed Nature Play learning space, designed to be in the centre of the Prep, Year 1, Year 2, and Year 3 classrooms. This is an extremely exciting project for our Lower Primary school and one that requires careful planning. Additionally, this building will also include a dedicated Student Services facility opening onto the Forecourt which will include a Student Reception, Health Room (First Aid), Counselling Offices, Future Pathways Offices and Senior Student Study Lounge.

Take a virtual tour through the proposed new development here!

MP1 Extension

The second project currently in the planning phase is the extension of our current Multipurpose Building enabling our entire Primary school or entire Secondary school to gather in the one space for Assemblies, Chapels, and other special services. We understand and appreciate that this extension will be well received by our students and staff!

Future Works

Below is a concept map detailing some of the key projects that our Master Plan:

As mentioned, this Master Plan will provide clarity on campus development over the next decade and this will provide us with many opportunities to update you on the developments.

We look forward to providing you with timely news as the commencement of these projects draws near. We are extremely passionate about providing campus infrastructure that is of an excellent standard, and I welcome the opportunity to discuss the plans with you.

Kind Regards,

Paul Sterling

Principal

Since graduating from Genesis in 2021, Ella Smith has gone on to reach exciting heights in the sporting arena. This year, Ella has been drafted to the Brisbane Lions in the AFLW league. She says it has been one of her proudest moments.

‘I have had a footy in my hands since I was little. My dad and brother both played so I started as soon as I could, and I absolutely loved it. It’s been my dream to play professionally.’

Ella is a talented dual-athlete, shining not just in AFL but in rowing as well. Next year, Ella plans to compete in the state and national rowing championships.

Looking back on her school days, Ella says that a highlight was participating in sporting events. She says she loved getting to travel to competitions and spending time with her teammates. Ella says she always felt her sporting endeavours were su

pported by her sports teachers and she credits her time at Genesis to teaching her some valuable life lessons

‘It taught me important values and morals as well as the organisational skills and discipline that has been required to achieve what I have in sport’.

These days, Ella’s weeks revolve around training and living a healthy lifestyle. She spends three mornings a week rowing and trains with the Brisbane Lions most other days. In between, Ella is very generous with her time to help to grow the sporting talent within the Genesis community.

Earlier this year, Ella participated in an interview and Q&A session with the Genesis STEEP students and in October, she will feature as a guest speaker at the Youth Sports Stars Breakfast.

Blessings,

Kate White

Community Engagement Officer

 Smashing good time at the P & F Bush Dance!

On the 13^th of August the Genesis community donned their flannos and Akubra hats for the P&F Association’s inaugural Bush Dance.

Families enjoyed tasty delights from a great range of food trucks on picnic rugs around the oval. As the sun set, the oval came alight with glow sticks, headbands and necklaces all sold by the Pastoral Care team to support the work of local chaplaincy groups.

The Smashing Bumpkins were the main event, and they didn’t disappoint! They had everyone up on the dance floor busting out moves to old time favourites like the Chicken Dance and the Nutbush. The energy was infectious with parents and students from across all year levels getting in on the fun.

Congratulations to the P&F Association for a great night and a big thank you to all the Genesis families who came out to support the event.

Blessings,

Kate White

Community Engagement Officer

It is with excitement that plans that are underway to develop a Secondary Independent School Sport competition – the Northern Independent Schools Sporting Association (NISSA).

Participation in high standard school sport competition is known to provide many benefits in terms of physical fitness, health benefits, cognitive development, personal wellbeing, and social integration. As a result, four foundation schools including Grace Lutheran College Rothwell, The Lakes College, Prince of Peace Lutheran College and Genesis Christian College have been working collaboratively for more than 18 months in planning to bring the vision of a secondary sports competition to reality with the competition planned to commence in Term 1, 2023.

The plan is to initially establish an Interschool Sport Competition to be known as NISSA, with the competition being run during the school day, targeting students in Year 7, 8, 9 and 10. Our objective is to create a sports competition based on strong collegial relationships, sportsmanship and healthy competition of a high standard, amongst like-minded schools. The competition will incorporate two seasons across the calendar year, incorporating a variety of popular sports.

Northern Independent Schools Sporting Association (NISSA) was originally established amongst a group of Primary schools including Grace Lutheran Primary School, The Lakes College, Genesis Christian College and more recently Prince of Peace Lutheran College. This competition has been highly successfully running for several years. This new secondary sports competition will build upon this foundation by adding a Secondary school competition.

Although the competition is planned to launch with Interschool Sport offered to Year 7, 8, 9 and 10 students, further consideration is being given to suitable opportunities for Year 11 and 12 students with a model structured appropriately for the rigors of students completing the final years of schooling. It is also the intention of the NISSA Management Committee to introduce additional competitions such as carnivals for member schools in the future.

We are incredibly excited about the sporting opportunities that NISSA Secondary will provide for our students, the collegial relationships that will be developed and the opportunity to partner with like-minded schools. Further information will be provided to individual school communities as the 2023 school year draws closer.

Yours faithfully,
NISSA Management Committee

UNIFORM BUYING – BACK TO SCHOOL 2023

Term 4 means that it’s time to start thinking about ‘Back to School 2023’ uniforms! Please note the following information:

Remainder of 2022
No appointments are necessary, just pop into the uniform shop during opening hours and we will gladly help you out.

A reminder, our opening hours are:

• Monday – Friday 8-10am
• Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday – 2.30-3.30pm

January 2023 (before school goes back)

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact the Uniform Shop – UniformShop@genesis.qld.edu.au

Blessings,

Mandy Morgan

Uniform Shop Coordinator

Term 3 is Primary Camping Season!

Each year the students in years 3, 4, 5 and 6 go on their annual school camp during term three. Already this term, our Year 6s under the leadership of Mr Johnson visited Longreach and other western Queensland towns, learning about our Australian history in a week-long camp. I had the privilege of attending this camp with the Year 6s this year and it truly was an incredible time away for students, staff and the parent helpers who always attend our trips. Our Genesis students are shining role models; children of high character and calibre. Oftentimes staff at venues visited, or members of the public will contact the school to let us know just how good Genesis students are.

The culminating Yr6 trip is a capstone event for Primary students, but the success of this trip can be attributed to the camping program of Year 3, 4 and 5, and the development of life skills which students learn through these experiences. Our camping program is designed to progressively challenge students by adding one night to the length each year. At each camp students enjoy a range of challenge activities which test their teamwork, resilience, critical thinking, and a whole range of other life skills like making your bed, going to sleep on time, and learning how to serve others at mealtimes. Ultimately what we are seeking to help shape in our students is Character. We believe at Genesis that if we can help build young people of great Character; young people whose actions reflect their values, which in turn influence the decisions they make – our future world will be a better place in many ways.

Students always have the best of fun, away camping with their friends, and at Genesis we always embed our Christian values into activities and share a devotions and prayer time at night together. Thankyou to all our parents for supporting our camping program, and thankyou to our wonderful teachers who work hard to make these the best experiences possible for our children.

Blessings,

Mr Jeremy Williamson

Head of School – Primary

Athletics Season:

PREP-YR 2 ATHLETICS CARNIVAL:

Our Prep-Year 2 students participated in their Athletics Carnival with great enthusiasm. Congratulations to all the students for running, jumping and throwing with their very best efforts. Congratulations to our Year 6 students who did a fabulous job on the day running the events. What a beautiful morning to share with our parents.

PRDSS:

Congratulations to our amazing 10-12 Years Team on their success at the PRDSS Track and Field Carnival held this week. All of our students were amazing over the 2 days of competition. We had some amazing individual performances seeing 16 of our students gain selection in the PRDSS Track and Field team:

Thomas M, Flynn S, Matilda T, Felix N, Matthew T, Viveca M, Theo H, Dylan M, Giselle B, Zarhli R, Sienna M, Ayla J, Bailey S, Lilly D, Eliza B, Cameron E, Holly M.

Congratulations to Giselle B who was awarded 12 Years Girls Age Champion.

NISSA:

We competed against our great mates at The Lakes College, Grace Lutheran Primary School and Prince of Peace Lutheran College at our NISSA Athletics Carnival. A huge congratulations to our Genesis team who were Champion School on the day. The students competed with amazing Character making us all proud to be part of Team Genesis. Well done!

CSSAQ:

Congratulations goes to our 10-12 Years Athletics Team who competed so well at the CSSAQ Track and Field Carnival at QSAC. It was a hard fought competition throughout the day with the top 4 placings very close and battling it out for Champion School until the very end. Our Genesis team finished in 3^rd place.

Congratulations to our students who finished with individual Age Champion places:

• 1^st 9 Years Boys – Charlie S
• 3^rd 11 Years Girls – Eliza B
• 1^st 12 Years Girls – Giselle B

Met North:

Congratulations to all of our 10-12 Years Students who competed at the MN Track and Field Championships last week. We are so proud of you all.

Congratulations goes to:

• Ayla J (1^st 11 Years Girls Tetrathlon)
• Viveca M (2^nd 12 Years Shot Put)
• Matthew T (1^st 12 Years 800m, 1^st 12 Years 1500m).
• Dylan M (Team selection).

A special congratulations goes to Matthew T who broke the MN 12 Years Boys 1500m Record.

In February 2021, we put the call out to our families to donate books for a Children’s Book Drive for Papua New Guinean Schools

Our community, together with Bridgeman Baptist Church donated approximately 5,000 books along with several boxes of books donated by AFP NC members.  Due to extensive COVID-19 delays, RAAF base Amberley were eventually enlisted to help, enthusiastically taking up the challenge delivering the books by C-17 to Port Moresby where an official ceremony took place led by Detective Superintendent Steve Hulbert and his team alongside PNG Constable, Community Ambassador and Rugby League legend Ase BOAS.  The books were gifted to Buk Bilong Pikinini (Books for Children), an organisation founded in 2007 with a mission to help increase literacy rates in Papua New Guinea through the establishment of children’s libraries and the provision of high-quality education programs and books.

Thank you to the CLTNC for involving us in this program and to our families for so generously donating.

Term 3 has been full of spectacular performances by students in our Dramatic Arts subjects!

A Night at the Theatre

An Afternoon with Shakespeare

All 3 Dance Companies blitzing it at all of their eisteddfods

Excursion to Bangarra Dance Theatre’s ‘Terrain’

Excursion to Australasian Dance Collective’s ‘Three’ 

Upcoming highlights:

Chookas to our Senior Dance Co heading to Sydney for Nationals in the September holidays

Dance Showcase, including special alumni event for the 10 year anniversary

10 Year of Dance – Alumni Reunion

Outback Tour 2022 

At the start of Term 3, our Year 6 students took off an epic 2000km journey through the heart of Queensland! We visited multiple Outback towns including Emerald, Rubyvale, Barcaldine, Longreach and Winton. 

Along the way we met so many wonderful characters including Dan from Camden Park Station and Lane from Nogo Station. These outback heroes, among many others, captured the passion and history of Queensland. They shared the history of their homes and gave us city folk an insight into the day-to-day life on a sheep or cattle station.  

The Qantas Founder’s Museum gave us a glimpse into the pioneering spirit of Australians as we toured the humble beginnings of the now global airline. The Outback Stockman’s Hall of Fame and the Waltzing Matilda Centre helped us to see the creativity and resilience required to carve a livelihood from the land.  

There were many other adventures that were had throughout the week away. The students demonstrated what wonderful, quality young people attend Genesis Christian College, as they interacted with each other, members of the public and with venue staff.  

Whether it was chatting with friends on the bus or sharing a meal by the fire under the star-filled outback sky, these memories will last a lifetime.  

Take a look at the video below. It features photos that we have not published anywhere else!

These dates are not extensive, are intended for reference only and are subject change.

Please refer to the College Calendar (accessible via the App or Parent Lounge) for the extensive dates and most update to information.

3 October	Queen's Birthday Public Holiday
4 October	First day of Term 4
5 October	Prep 2023 Parent Information Evening (7pm)
6 October	Year 12 Final Chapel (8:30am) Strings in Spring (6pm)
7 October	P&F Disco - Primary (5:15pm)
10 October	Dance Showcase - A Decade of Dance Display Opens
11 October	P&F Meeting (7pm)
13 October	Secondary Co-Curricular Presentation Ceremony Dance Showcase - Junior Show
14 October	Dance Showcase Senior Show from 4:30pm
15 October	Dance Alumni Event (2.30pm) Dance Showcase Senior Show
17 October	The Pictures Visual Art Display Open. Presentation Evening (4pm)
19 October	Secondary Senior School Presentation Ceremony (7pm)
22 October	Alumni Reunion - 10 & 20 Years
24 October	Year 12 External Exams Begiin
28 October	Day for Daniel Primary NISSA Gala Day Genesis Staff Day Breakfast
31 October	Year 9 into 10 Work Experience Info Evening
4 November	Family Friday Worship (8.10am) Volunteers Thank You Afternoon Tea (1.30pm) Family Movie Night (6.30pm)
8 November	Year 8 Parent Information Evening
9 November	P&F Meeting (7pm)
15 November	Yrs 3-6 Primary Colours Awards Assembly (1.30pm)
16 November	Concert on the Green (5pm)
18 November	Year 12s Last Day Valedictory Service (9am) Year 12 Formal (7pm)
21 November	Year 6 into 7 Transition Day
22 November	Yrs 3-4 Celebration Service (12.30pm)
23 November	Secondary middle School Presentation Ceremony
25 November	Years 10-11 Last Day Years 5/6 Celebration Service (1pm) Year 6 Graduation Dinner (6pm)
28 November	Year 9 Celebration Ceremony (11.15am) Year 9 Celebration Dinner (6pm)
30 November	Prep - Yr 9 Last Day Prep - Yr 2 Celebration Service (9am)

Term 3 has well and truly been a busy one for our Year 3 students!

Year 3 Camp

The highlight of our Term was definitely the Year 3 students’ first overnight camp at QCCC Brookfield. The students had a ball learning new skills, developing new friendships and enjoying the fun of being away with their classmates and teachers for a night!

Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

Earlier in the term, we travelled for an excursion to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. This excursion formed an important part of our Science Unit that included investigating Living and Non-Living things, classifying animals in their scientific groups and exploring ways we can be Wildlife Warriors to care for our native animals. Further to this, as part of our PBL we are designing bird feeders to attract native birds to our gardens.

Smudge visits Year 3!

We also had a very cute four legged furry friend visit out classrooms, following our very persuasive letters to Mr Williamson about why Genesis would benefit from having a therapy dog! We were blessed to have a visit from Dr Michelle Farbotko from Wag Therapy and her furry friend Smudge.

We pray our students and their families enjoy a relaxing holiday after such a big term in Year 3!

Natasha Fox

Year 3 Innovation & Learning Leader

There’s been a lot happening in our Library over the past Term!

The Primary library space has seen a few changes during Term 3, firstly with my arrival as the new primary teacher-librarian, but also in seeing the first few steps in the evolution of a partnership between the library and the classroom, particularly in the development of digital literacy.

The modern-day library space, while remaining a fantastic physical space within which students can both learn and escape to the natural habitat of the bookworm, is also continually extending its boundaries according to the ever-growing digital world. As a result, the primary teacher-librarian, in partnership with classroom teachers and library staff, has begun a journey to help students build skills and knowledge in the area of digital literacy in meaningful contexts aligned with their units of work.

Throughout Term 3, the development of research skills has been a focus, particularly making effective use of digital and print resources available through the library such as databases, websites, e-books, physical books, and film.

Lastly, it would be great to reflect on the Book Week celebrations that took place across the primary school. It was encouraging to see the majority of students and staff embrace the dress up day, with characters and themes from a diverse range of books bringing an extra measure of colour to the college for a day. A special acknowledgement also goes to all the students who entered the bookmark competition in which there were many creative designs reflecting the theme, Reading is dreaming with eyes open.

Did you see our video of the wonderful Book Week costumes? Check it out here!

Mr Benjamin Swift

Primary Teacher-Librarian

In August, our Year 7 students eventually made it on their Year 7 camp, after being postponed from February.

The students enjoyed an amazing camp at Noosa North Shore, where they tackled the high ropes course, stand up paddle boarding, canoeing and bodyboarding just to name a few!

Blessings,

Andrew Duncan

Year 7 Care & Conduct Leader (CCL)